Ancient city and modern town in northern Africa. It was founded by Phenician merchants c.850 BC, razed by Rome in 146 BC, rebuilt by Augustus in 29 BC, and destroyed by Arabs in 698. It was early on a flourishing seat of Christianity and the scene of several synods between 198 and 698. The bishops of Carthage, founded c.202, exercised a real though unofficial primacy in the African Church and among their privileges was the determination, a year in advance, of the date for the celebration of Easter. The number of persons martyred there in the arena was almost as great as that in Rome, and among this number were Felicitas and Perpetua whose dungeon now serves as a chapel. The old amphitheater was excavated c.1880, and disclosed what is ranked as the world’s greatest collection of Christian lamps, three Christian basilicas, chapels, cemeteries, inscriptions, and Roman and Punic buildings of various types. Carthage lays claim to the oldest remains of Christian edifices, as in Rome they have been destroyed or rebuilt.